McFadden Farm Unit: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Stones River National Battlefield, National Park Service

National Park Service

The McFadden Farm unit is a component landscape of the Stones River National Battlefield, located southeast of Nashville in central Tennessee. The culmination of the 1862-63 Civil War Battle of Stones River occurred on this property, which also contains a monument associated with early national movements by private and federal groups to commemorate the battle and establish a national military park. After a period of private ownership, the tract was acquired by the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad Company in order to commemorate important battle events and locations, subsequently transferred to the War Department and the National Park Service (NPS), and then expanded with the acquisition of additional property. According to National Register documentation, the McFadden Farm's period of significance is 1862-1933. It was an important location during the Battle of Stones River (December 31, 1861 – January 2, 1863), where a Union victory enabled northern troops to occupy the town of Murfreesboro and gain control of the region’s supply networks. The farm was the site of the massed Union artillery led by Capt. John Mendenhall during the final day of fighting, thwarting the Confederate attack. In the years following the Civil War, veterans, the Grand Army of the Republic, the Stones River Battlefield and Park Associations, and the U.S. War Department contributed to efforts to memorialize battle events. The Artillery Monument, a 34-foot concrete obelisk built in 1906, is a significant example of commemorative monument construction. Erected by the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad, the monument marked the Union artillery position and initially served as a point of interest for railroad passengers. Today, the Artillery Monument is in fair condition, experiencing some structural deterioration. Overall, the landscape appears more closely aligned with the commemorative period than the battle-era period, although the site still contains several natural and built features that convey association and setting of the battle. The historic Van Cleve Lane, formerly McFadden Lane or Bowen Lane, marked an important transportation route and area of intense fighting. Although its qualities have been altered, the road’s historic location and alignment is maintained. The topography of the land, a contributing factor in the strategy and outcome of the campaign, also appears as it did during the historic period. At the time of the battle, the McFadden farmstead was located on the site. Today, all that remains of this settlement is the deteriorating McFadden family cemetery, containing several headstones in poor condition. Other features that existed at the time of significance, such as a shallow crossing known as McFadden’s Ford, remain evident and continue to convey the relationship of this landscape to the Civil War battle events. After gaining ownership of the Military Park in 1964 and expanding the boundaries of the site, the NPS substantially altered the character of the landscape by adding parking lots, sidewalks, an entrance road, and a greater diversity of vegetation. A stone wall was constructed in 1976 to stabilize a portion of the western river bank. The land surrounding the McFadden farm landscape is maintained as open fields, similar to the historic agricultural use. A stone-lined spring was also added later. The 1999 General Management Plan for the park states that the cultural landscape should be preserved to represent the battle action in a way visitors can visualize, illustrating the influence of the surrounding landscape on the progression of events. The McFadden Farm landscape presently includes the side of the McFadden farm, the McFadden cemetery, Van Cleve Lane, the 1906 monument, and NPS developments such as parking areas and sidewalks.

McFadden Farm Unit: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Stones River National Battlefield, National Park Service

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